Welcome to my astronomy blog, I dedicate myself to the simplest form of amateur astronomy which requires only portable equipments.

Monday, December 05, 2011

Fine tuning the Mark-X

I found that by using a rotatable quick release mounting plate in a carefully balanced position will allow mounting my Ranger on it with fine adjustment like panning at higher power. When coupled with the manual slow motion control of the Mark-X, that rotatable mounting plate will serve as a cheapy DEC body. Probably enough for shooting the upcoming Lunar eclipse.

On the other side of the mounting plate, I'll have a ball head where it could be used to align with my Ranger on the other side. The ball head could also be used to adjust proper balance.

The 410 head was carefully locked to my Gitzo G106, and the shake is reduced to minimum. After using this setup for the coming Saturday, I shall then proceed to the local machinist to attach the motor for tracking.

If everything went fine, I may want to order an extra set of motor since I found the original seller has one more set at least for backup. And I shall further see if I should keep my 5x Powermate or not for some high power lunar shot, or even game like planet imaging like what I did like ten years ago.

I shall go jogging on this Thursday night in order to see whether a nearby playground could be nice for observation.